Litton’s art pays close attention to the games’ stories, singling out memorable moments, standout players and sometimes even reactions from fans across social media.

All the ideas circulate in his head during the games as he brainstorms, so that when the game ends he can finish a cartoon in just an hour or two.

Litton said that the unemployment line and the possibility of eating packaged ramen for the rest of his life fueled his ideas to draw cartoons for the paper consistently.

During his 30-year period at the Rocky Mountain News, Litton also created a daily feature that has now transitioned into a weekly comic strip called “ Win, Lose & DREW. ” For more than 25 years, the strip features panels about Denver’s professional and college sports with Litton often inserting himself as a character.

Litton’s run at the Rocky Mountain News ended in 2009 when the paper closed its doors.

He has since worked for outlets including the Chicago Tribune, ESPN, 9News and more recently, The Colorado Sun. He’s also a nationally syndicated cartoonist through Andrews McMeel.

At one point in his career, Litton juggled 12 cartoons a week.

“There were times where I was going a little nutso, but at least I still have my ear,” Litton said. “I didn’t chop it off like Van Gogh did, though I’ve thought about it a few times.”

In the decades following Litton’s first year in Denver, the Broncos have won three Super Bowls, the Nuggets won a national championship and the city now has four major professional sports teams including the Colorado Avalanche (who are also three-time Stanley Cup champions) and the Colorado Rockies, who Litton jokes is still a minor league team.

Almost nothing in the Denver sports scene is left undrawn by Litton, who has caricatured former Broncos quarterback John Elway and recently-fired Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.

“[Litton’s] caricatures are legendary. John Elway — who I believe wasn’t terribly thrilled with the way Drew depicted him — is such an iconic figure in his cartoons,” said Kevin Simpson, co-founder of The Colorado Sun.

Simpson, who has known Litton since they both worked at the Rocky Mountain News newsroom, has a framed Litton print of Elway haunting Joe Sakic, the leading scorer in the Colorado Avalanche’s 1996 championship season, hanging on his office wall.

“My colleagues and I felt strongly that editorial cartoons deserved a spot in the paper,” said Simpson about contacting Litton to draw for the digital publication.

“And so I remembered the fantastic work that Drew did and the tremendous learning curve that he navigated to understand Colorado’s sports scene and so my first call for a cartoonist was to Drew.”

Simpson was adamant about The Colorado Sun having cartoonists because of the medium’s historical significance in newspapers. Editorial cartoons serve as a way to document the country’s history in a larger-than-life way, he said.

“Single-panel cartoons like the ones that Drew draws, encapsulate Colorado sports history,” Simpson said.

Since 2018, The Colorado Sun has published Litton’s single-panel cartoons weekly every Friday.

Litton’s artistic process has changed over the decades as well. What used to be a pen, paper and acetate ink process is now created on a 27-inch Wacom tablet.

“There are good and bad things with technology, but [the tablet] has enabled me to keep up with deadlines,” Litton said.